The Shams sisters opened their first bakery on Fairview in December 2019, 12 years after moving to the U.S. from Afghanistan. The four women were inspired by their native country’s saffron, also known as the sunshine spice.
Co-owner Homeyra Shams said they wanted to help women back home, to “create jobs for them and also be able to sell something that we can also send some of the profit to women, and help widowed women in Afghanistan.”
Their father brought them to the United States because he wanted them to have an education, something out of reach for women and girls in their war-torn country.
After facing multiple setbacks, from the COVID-19 pandemic to the loss of their father, the sisters are now celebrating the expansion of their small business.
“When we look back, we feel a lot … more stronger. Even with all those difficult obstacles we had, we still succeeded. We created a community of customers that love us,” Shams said.
Fans of pistachio baklava, cardamom cookies and black sesame passion fruit tarts can now get their fix at the bakery’s second location in downtown Boise.
Before the Taliban banned women from most work following the withdrawal of U.S. troops in 2021, saffron fields were one of the few places women could make a living, making up to 90% of the workforce.
The new Sunshine Spice bakery is open now and located on 10th and Bannock in downtown Boise.